


Hope

by ChloeWinchester



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-01 20:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6534403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChloeWinchester/pseuds/ChloeWinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle and Rumple help each other recover from their despair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hope

Belle quaked against him for some time, staring out at the open sea and the souls flitting about in there. He didn’t move or speak, and he wouldn’t until Belle was ready Her head stayed on his chest, her hands clinging to his coat as tight as she could manage. Now and then he heard her sniffle or her breath would shake with sobs. He just held her, rocked her a little, pressed a kiss to her hair and a hand to her stomach when her sobs overcame her. His own tears slipped down his cheeks, into her hair but he didn’t make a sound. They would find a way. If it was the last thing they did they would save their baby. They’d overcome far worse things. 

When night fell, the souls glowing beneath the surface of the water, he gently turned her chin. She didn’t need to look anymore. “Let’s get somewhere inside,” he breathed, eyes gentle and soft. “Don’t want to catch a cold down here, right?” He smiled a little, and he saw some warmth in her eyes but her smile didn’t form. She nodded weakly, resting against him again and holding tight as he magicked them to the foyer of their home. 

The Underworld equivalent of their home, at least. It was more packed than it had ever been, wall to wall with broken, useless things covered in rust and dirt and cobwebs. The house appeared to be held up by the piles of junk, decaying like everything else there. 

“Does it look like this everywhere?” Belle whispered, her bright eyes swollen and glinting in the dim light. 

“It does,” he admitted sadly. “This and worse.” Another wave of his hand and the lamps bloomed to life, casting a warm light over the place. Belle looked away from most of it, eyes on Rumple’s chest at the moment. She sniffled a little, curled into herself like she often did when uncomfortable. He wrapped his arms around her, refusing to let her be isolated and alone. 

“I-I did clean out a lot of the upstairs,” he offered, smiling at her. “Like our bedroom? The halls?” He ducked to meet her eyes, trying to gauge her response. “I needed to keep my hands busy and- Well it only took about fifteen seconds, but it kept me busy for five minutes.” Belle laughed very quietly, relaxing a touch. “Come with me, sweetheart, there’s nothing for us here.” 

He hoped she didn’t want to go to the study, to see the books she’d cherished and ones that never belonged to her rotting and bloated with moisture, riddled with holes from moths and worms and rats. Her heart had taken enough damage today. 

Belle stayed quiet trudging up the stairs, practically leaning on Rumple and relying on him to get her up. Her legs felt numb and her mind was filled with static, a heavy, cold feeling like her hat had been soaked in water and put back on her head. Hopelessness. What Hades wanted and, she supposed, what he’d gotten. 

Rumple guided her into the bedroom, helping her out of her coat  and hat with a soft smile. She wrapped her arms around herself, hugging her stomach, as if that would protect the baby inside. Their baby. The baby of true love and a Dark One, a miraculous child who would be so, so loved by her, by its father. But if...if Hades got his hands on their child… 

Belle suddenly cried out, covering her face and sobbing brokenly into her hands. 

“Belle?” Rumple rushed to her, kneeling in front of her. “Hey, hey, hey,” he whispered, gently taking her hands. “Shh, Belle, it’s okay. It’s alright, don’t cry, sweetheart.” 

“He can’t take our child, he can’t!” She cried, squeezing his hands in her own. “He can’t take our baby, we’ve… We’ve worked so hard, we’ve been through so much- You’ve lost your son already you can’t lose another- I can’t lose this baby!” 

“Belle, Belle, shh…” He soothed, gently stroking her hair, eyes brimming with pain. “Belle, we are not going to lose our baby. I...I’ll give my own soul before I allow that to happen. He won’t get our child.” 

“But, h-how? What can we do?” She whimpered. Rumple offered her a smile, cupping her face in his hands. 

“Belle, you and I have conquered far worse odds than this,” he said softly, stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers. “If there’s anyone that can get through this, it’s you and I. We will have our family, and we will be together. That happily ever after you’ve earned will be ours. It will be, I promise.” 

She let out a shaky breath, closing her eyes to relish her touch. “Together. We’ll do it together.” 

Rumple smiled at her. “And when has anyone been able to stop the both of us?” He whispered. Belle kissed him, deeply and without warning as she had on the docks, and again he was shocked that she had. Her fingers wound into his hair, her body pressed against him and he clung to her as if his life depended on it. 

Again he chased her when she broke the kiss, looking into her eyes a moment before kissing her again, holding her and gently caressing her face. He’d missed her skin so much. Her lips, her voice, even the scent of her. “I love you,” she breathed, plump lips ghosting against his own when she spoke. He trembled, still on his knees before her, worshipping her as he always had. “And I’m so sorry.” 

He blinked, sitting back a little. “For what, Belle?” 

She gave a rueful laugh, her voice shaking as she spoke. “For so much. For treating you like I have, for talking to you like, like you’re  _ beneath _ me somehow. Letting my stupid ideals get in the way of reality and then wondering why it blows up in my face. I love who you are. I love the man, I love the beast. I love  _ you _ . I always have and to pretend I don’t…” She sniffled. “I didn’t understand, I refused to understand. And I-I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened since I banished you.” Her voice choked off and she shook her head. “I’m sorry I banished you! I’m sorry I, I just kept accusing you of things instead of talking to you. I’m sorry I left you alone and went to Camelot, I’m sorry I talked to that flower more than I spoke to you. I’m sorry that when you woke I still guarded myself and mistrusted everything about you even when I  _ saw _ you pull Excalibur from the stone and, and saw how pure your heart was and watched you fight a bloody bear and saw you go off to fight Killian I… I broke your heart and left you. How cruel am I?” 

“You didn’t mean to be cruel, Belle,” he whispered. “It’s alright, it-” 

“No,” she said firmly, wiping her face. “No, you don’t forgive me just because I’m crying. She bowed her head, hair falling in a curtain around her. “I scorned you for so many things you did for love. Because I didn’t agree with the methods, because I didn’t understand the desperation you felt. I do now. I do, I… It’s not that simple. Why was I so stupid?! I’m supposed to be clever!” She let out a harsh sob, a shudder working through her when Rumple hugged her. 

“Belle, shh…” He soothed, shaking his head. “I’m willing to do those things because darkness has always been a part of me. I’ve always been a desperate man, Belle, I know what that struggle is. But you? You have such hope for people, you seek out their goodness, you believe in it so much and...and I never wanted you to have to do something like this. Not ever. It’s not worth you understanding, Belle, it’s-” 

“I’m glad it happened,” she breathed, her head down still when he let her go. “After all I’ve put you through? Every ounce of pain, of worthlessness I’ve made you feel, it’s about time I, I changed my perspective. Like you were talking about before.” She took a shaky breath. “Rumple, you’ve been honest with me  more now than you’ve ever been. Don’t stop that. You’re worth standing up for, it’s okay to tell me I was wrong. Because I was. Am.”

He swallowed, gently pushing her hair back so he could see her face. “I felt like I couldn’t win,” he said softly. “That no matter what I did, I wouldn’t be enough for you. Cursed I was too bad. I did you wrong too many times and you’d every right to leave. Powerless I tried to be who you wanted, I tried to be that hero but I...I can’t be who I’m not. Yes, I fought that bear, with magic. I went to fight Killian, sure I wouldn’t live through it. And the same thing happened with the sword. I was content to die  or live using the means I knew. I can’t be someone I’m not, and neither can you. Your decision is yours, Belle, and whatever you wish to do, I support. But I can’t make promises to you that I can’t keep. I can’t keep hurting you like that anymore.” 

She nodded, gently touching his face. “I-I’m sorry I used the dagger on you. I should never,  _ never _ do that, it’s not- That’s a horrible thing to do to you, to anyone, but knowing what you’ve been through-” Her tears started sliding afresh down her face. “There’s no excuse for it. None. I keep giving you these, these ultimatums and it’s not fair! I’m your wife, not your jailer! And I, I don’t want to be like everyone else in your life but I have been!” She sobbed softly. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Rumple. I… We, we will work on this. Us. Each other.” 

Rumple was crying too, hating to see her in pain. He smiled a little. “I forgive you, Belle. And if we do this together? Nothing can stop us, remember?”

She smiled back, kissing him gently this time, a desperation still clinging to her mouth. She pulled him closer, scooting back on the bed so he could get on top of her properly. She lied back on the bed, kissing him over and over again, holding his face while they kissed. 

He hummed against her mouth, melting into her arms. His tie left his throat, his jacket thrown off his shoulders, buttons being undone on his shirt while her lips trailed down his throat as she revealed it, and then she paused. 

Rumple pulled himself from his daze, looking at her. “What’s wrong?” He panted. 

She looked up at him, lips pursed. “Do you think Hades is watching us?” She asked. 

Rumple shrugged, then smirked. “Well, if he is, we might as well give him a decent show, hm?” 

He kissed her with a little growl, turning over in the bed with her and holding her, listening to her giggles fill the house. 

Outside, a wilted daisy lifted itself off the sidewalk, bursting back to life. 


End file.
